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Thread: My Brother's (ahem....) Panerai

  1. #1
    Grand Master TaketheCannoli's Avatar
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    My Brother's (ahem....) Panerai

    First things first. This isn't my watch and I would never buy a fake/replica of any brand. I have owned a PAM homage or two in my time but they have always been sterile dial versions. I don't want people to think I have a Panerai, I just like the styling of the watch. I would buy another Parnis and Getat watch but they'd have to be sterile.

    However this post is about the potential quality of these (most likely) Asian produced watches and the relative quality when compared to the genuine brand.

    This one was bought fourteen years ago on holiday in Turkey. It's been worn almost daily in a building site / demolition / factory environment and has stood the test of time (pardon the pun) amazingly. It has a hand-winding movement that hacks and a fully functioning crown-guard. It's also keeping excellent time.

    The cost of this cheap piece of Asian tat?

    £40

    It really does make you wonder about the relative quality when compared to the real thing. Would a £5k Panerai be running this well without a service and without having had any repairs or attention after 14 years? Quite possibly. You'd hope so for £5k. But possibly not.

    Anyone considering a PAM purchase but worried about the wearability over-time could do worse than test it out with one of these things. I know a few forum members have done exactly that and it has helped them decide one way or the other.

    I should also point out that he is about to buy a Panerai so his test definitely worked.

    Thanks for reading.post image online

  2. #2
    I’ve seen worst fakes ,I wonder if it as a branded movement,or wether that’s also fake


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  3. #3
    Grand Master TaketheCannoli's Avatar
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    I assume fake for £40 but I don’t want to take the back off in case the only thing holding it together is the grime around the caseback!

    Quote Originally Posted by mk1974 View Post
    I’ve seen worst fakes ,I wonder if it as a branded movement,or wether that’s also fake


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Master
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    But the snag is that you really have no idea what you are buying with a fake. Even some authentic looking fakes have only got rubbish Chinese movements that gain or lose several minutes a day and fail completely after 6 months. Others like this, are obviously of fundamentally good quality. But how do you know before buying? OK its 'only' £40 in this case, but I'd rather not waste £40 on useless rubbish!

  5. #5
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrGrumpy View Post
    But the snag is that you really have no idea what you are buying with a fake. Even some authentic looking fakes have only got rubbish Chinese movements that gain or lose several minutes a day and fail completely after 6 months. Others like this, are obviously of fundamentally good quality. But how do you know before buying? OK its 'only' £40 in this case, but I'd rather not waste £40 on useless rubbish!
    A bit like the real watches then?
    (Joke)
    Cheers..
    Jase

  6. #6
    Grand Master gray's Avatar
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    I've had a few Friday afternoon watches and it's frustrating at any price point.
    Gray

  7. #7
    Master Wooster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonM View Post
    A bit like the real watches then?
    (Joke)
    What was it, the Brooklyn something model from Panerai?

  8. #8
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by gray View Post
    I've had a few Friday afternoon watches and it's frustrating at any price point.
    But at least with a non-fake you've got some comeback.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Wooster View Post
    What was it, the Brooklyn something model from Panerai?
    The one that is sold out and sells for a premium?

  10. #10
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by RAJEN View Post
    The one that is sold out and sells for a premium?
    That's right, the one that so embarrassed Panerai they offered to replace the movements.

    It's quite common that 'mistakes' become sought after & sell 'for a premium'.

  11. #11
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wooster View Post
    What was it, the Brooklyn something model from Panerai?

    That was one of the more dubious ones, I love Panerai, one of my favourite watches was the 372 I had, just gorgeous, I also had a 112, this had a very plain Jane Unitas 6497 movement, just like a lot of the copies, I personally didn't care too much, but the mark up must have been eye watering. I think they have really upped their game movement wise in recent years.
    Cheers..
    Jase

  12. #12
    Grand Master
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    Hardly a scratch for 14 years on a site, what's your brothers role, site manager?!!

  13. #13
    I once built up a marina styled watch using a titanium case and crystal off ebay which I subsequently had TiN coated and put in a Tissot pocket watch movement (think I sold it to someone on here...)
    Before I started, I took the replica case into work and gave it to one of our measurement guys in the workshop for comparison with my own Panerai 111 which I still have.
    it wasn't close, it was exactly the same dimensions,down to microns difference. Surface finish was excellent too.....

  14. #14
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by TaketheCannoli View Post

    This one was bought fourteen years ago on holiday in Turkey...I should also point out that he is about to buy a Panerai so his test definitely worked.
    That is a very long sales cycle :)

  15. #15
    Craftsman
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    Has your bother no shame ? :)

  16. #16
    Grand Master TaketheCannoli's Avatar
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    It’s not even in the top 100 shameful things he’s done.

    Quote Originally Posted by Benji053 View Post
    Has your bother no shame ? :)

  17. #17
    Master
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    At £40 fourteen years ago I would guess it’s got an Asian 7750 chronograph movement inside. Panerai were using the 7750 as the base for their automatic Marina models at that time, as it was the only readily available auto movement that would provide running secs at 9 (to match the manual Unitas 6497) and a date at 3.
    The Asian 7750 without the chrono functions is probably a reliable movement.

  18. #18
    Grand Master VDG's Avatar
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    If I am worried about wearability issues I usually pop in to the shop which has the watch in stock and try it on. Just saying.
    Fas est ab hoste doceri

  19. #19
    Grand Master RustyBin5's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TaketheCannoli View Post
    It’s not even in the top 100 shameful things he’s done.
    In that case he should write a book maybe two

  20. #20
    Grand Master TaketheCannoli's Avatar
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    It would be a best seller for sure!

    Quote Originally Posted by RustyBin5 View Post
    In that case he should write a book maybe two

  21. #21
    Master
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    Don’t want to be negative, but I don’t think fakes should be discussed. Every time they are it makes a little more acceptable.

  22. #22
    Grand Master TaketheCannoli's Avatar
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    I respect that view entirely.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rodder View Post
    Don’t want to be negative, but I don’t think fakes should be discussed. Every time they are it makes a little more acceptable.

  23. #23
    After reading some well documented articles about Panerai on Perezcope Blog now I don't have much admiration for Panerai as they are the first to fooling people.

  24. #24
    Grand Master RustyBin5's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Artium View Post
    After reading some well documented articles about Panerai on Perezcope Blog now I don't have much admiration for Panerai as they are the first to fooling people.
    Seems a confusing statement. Can you elaborate? How are Panerai fooling people

  25. #25
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    It's quite sad that your brother wore a fake for that amount of time. You should have bought him a decent watch as a gift. Not impressed/surprised and certainly not amazed as you are, that a watch, fake or not, did what it's supposed to for 14 years. That's modern watches for you, Chinese, Russian, Indian, Swiss or Japanese, they work for decades.

    Quote Originally Posted by TaketheCannoli View Post
    First things first. This isn't my watch and I would never buy a fake/replica of any brand. I have owned a PAM homage or two in my time but they have always been sterile dial versions. I don't want people to think I have a Panerai, I just like the styling of the watch. I would buy another Parnis and Getat watch but they'd have to be sterile.

    However this post is about the potential quality of these (most likely) Asian produced watches and the relative quality when compared to the genuine brand.

    This one was bought fourteen years ago on holiday in Turkey. It's been worn almost daily in a building site / demolition / factory environment and has stood the test of time (pardon the pun) amazingly. It has a hand-winding movement that hacks and a fully functioning crown-guard. It's also keeping excellent time.

    The cost of this cheap piece of Asian tat?

    £40

    It really does make you wonder about the relative quality when compared to the real thing. Would a £5k Panerai be running this well without a service and without having had any repairs or attention after 14 years? Quite possibly. You'd hope so for £5k. But possibly not.

    Anyone considering a PAM purchase but worried about the wearability over-time could do worse than test it out with one of these things. I know a few forum members have done exactly that and it has helped them decide one way or the other.

    I should also point out that he is about to buy a Panerai so his test definitely worked.

    Thanks for reading.post image online

  26. #26
    Grand Master TaketheCannoli's Avatar
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    Not sad at all as his non-work watch is a Speedmaster which he loves, bought new around 15 years ago for the princely sum of £1800.

    Quote Originally Posted by James_ View Post
    It's quite sad that your brother wore a fake for that amount of time. You should have bought him a decent watch as a gift. Not impressed/surprised and certainly not amazed as you are, that a watch, fake or not, did what it's supposed to for 14 years. That's modern watches for you, Chinese, Russian, Indian, Swiss or Japanese, they work for decades.

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